Chiefs at Texans: Grades for Week 2
By Andrew Jones
Defense: B
The Kansas City defense allowed two big drives in the first quarter but then kept the Texans out of the end zone the rest of the way. Marcus Peters had a Jekyl/Hyde performance with two picks and two big plays allowed. Tamba Hali and Dontari Poe graded out well according to PFF (subscription required) with their solid run and pass defense.
Kansas City looked out of sorts a bit during the first half as Osweiler picked apart the secondary with a massive amount of time. The Chiefs could not get pressure on the quarterback until the second quarter. There they forced Osweiler to check out of his main read and make short throws. Once the Texans started punting the defense continued to work and held Lamaar Miller to 83 yards on 25 carries. That ends up being less than 3.5 yards per carry which is something the defense can hang its hat on.
It fell to the defense however late in the second half to continue to stop Houston with virtually no rest between drives. The offense for the Chiefs was so inept that Kansas City’s defense ran out of gas and allowed two more field goals. This is a struggle that we thought the team would no longer face as the offense was expected to take off in 2016. While the defense has certainly taken a step back, their progression has occurred more quickly than expected.